The University of Nottingham has strengthened its links with Indonesia with the signing of a new long-term partnership.

The agreement will see Nottingham join forces with one of Indonesia’s leading universities to train some of their best and brightest postgraduate engineers.

Under the terms of the partnership, The University of Nottingham and Universitas Muhammadiyah Surakarta (UMS) will establish integrated Masters and PhD programmes in materials design, studied in both countries.

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Students will start a masters programme at UMS and after one year will transfer onto a PhD programme at The University of Nottingham.

A key role

This will enable Nottingham academics to play a key role in the future development of Indonesian transport and infrastructure — while supporting the upskilling of academic staff in Indonesia in a way that reduces ‘brain drain’ out of the country.

It is hoped that the collaboration will also provide a platform for longer term research collaboration in transport and infrastructure — an area of strategic importance to both countries.

The University of Nottingham is already one of the UK’s largest recruiters of students from Indonesia.

Professor Christine Ennew, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Internationalisation at The University of Nottingham, said: “Collaborations in the area of PhD training will provide the basis for sustained and beneficial engagement between Universities in the UK and Indonesia.

“For Nottingham, this partnership is an opportunity to work with outstanding young researchers on problems that are of interest to colleagues at both institutions. As such it provides a foundation for future research collaborations in an area that is of strategic importance to both countries.”

Closer co-operation

The agreement was completed at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London, as David Willetts, Universities and Science Minister, signed a joint framework on closer education and skills cooperation with Indonesia’s Minister for Education Mohammad Nuh.

In total, agreements were signed with seven UK universities, including Nottingham. They are expected to be worth more than £50m to the UK higher education sector over five years.

Mr Willetts said: “This is a major step towards establishing the UK as Indonesia’s partner of choice in education and research. The positive effect of these agreements will go further than simply providing scholarships; it will build and strengthen institutional links in teaching and research.

“We will also be looking for future opportunities for our countries to work together in vocational education and training and for partnerships between further education colleges”

Dr Joanna Newman, Director of the UK Higher Education International Unit, said: “The UK Indonesia Scholarship Programme is a landmark commitment by the Indonesian government and UK universities in student mobility.

“Indonesia has 5.4 million students and has huge ambitions for the education of its population and the UK is extremely well placed to develop long-lasting partnerships in teaching and research.” The latest set of agreements were signed during the state visit to the UK by the Indonesian President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

The Prime Minister led a delegation to Indonesia in April this year, which included the UK Higher Education International Unit, The University of Nottingham, the Open University, and the University of Southampton.

Notes to editors: The University of Nottingham, described by The Sunday Times University Guide 2011 as ‘the embodiment of the modern international university’, has 40,000 students at award-winning campuses in the United Kingdom, China and Malaysia. It is ranked in the UK's Top 10 and the World's Top 75 universities by the Shanghai Jiao Tong (SJTU) and the QS World University Rankings. It was named ‘the world’s greenest university’ in the UI GreenMetric World University Ranking 2011.

More than 90 per cent of research at The University of Nottingham is of international quality, according to the most recent Research Assessment Exercise. The University’s vision is to be recognised around the world for its signature contributions, especially in global food security, energy & sustainability, and health. The University won a Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education in 2011, for its research into global food security.